


The Kids Are Slowly Growing Up

by ladyroxanne21



Series: Growing Up Potter [14]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Ice Cream, Kid Fic, M/M, Quidditch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 06:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7674466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyroxanne21/pseuds/ladyroxanne21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When three of the mothers take 13 of the kids out shopping, Neville has to come to their rescue. Later on, it's Teddy's birthday and Ginny has a surprise for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Kids Are Slowly Growing Up

Hannah, Susan, and Parvati had done something that they were now sincerely regretting. The three of them had – rather insanely – decided that they would be fine bringing the kids shopping. Not _all_ of the kids as Parvati's younger one had been left in Padma and Pansy's care with theirs, but all twelve of the “twins” (or dodecuplets) and Teddy.

At five (and 6) years old, the kids were as rambunctious as ever. Pansy might have had luck wrangling them – even all on her own – but with just three adults versus 13 kids... the odds were not good.

The kids were not making it easy on the three women because none of them could understand why they needed more clothes anyway. It had been a massive struggle to get them all to stay in the clothing section of the store. Not to mention that having them try on the clothes was a nightmare beyond anything they could have imagined.

Susan had finally snapped and offered them all ice cream if they would just settle down and behave. Miraculously, this worked. They suddenly all became _angels_ who cooperated most helpfully.

Scorpius, Pearl, Pandora, and Parvati's daughter Indira all seemed to have inherited a shopping gene from their parents as they rather abruptly decided that they had to have _everything_ that fit them and looked good. James and Albus could not care less what they looked like – so long as their clothes were comfortable. And the rest of the kids more or less went along with what was picked out for them.

The clerks had oh so helpfully gotten into the act by picking out adorable outfits for the kids. They also fawned all over them, praising them for being adorable and looking just like their famous father. Which was true, they did.

James, Lily, Pearl, Indira, and Padma's son Sai all had black hair and green eyes. In fact _all_ the Potter kids had green eyes. James looked like a mini Harry, and the rest of the kids all had the same shape face he did, with differences – such as Sai and Indira, who had the same yellowish tan skin tone as their mothers.

Albus and Scorpius looked like they were the actual twins, rather than Albus and James. Both had blond hair that ruffled wildly like Harry's. They were also a bit taller and thinner than James with paler skin.

Hugo, Rose, Amelia, and Remus had brown hair like their mothers, but the rest of their features were clearly Harry's – aside from a copious amount of freckles no one was quite sure where they'd come from. Which just left Pandora – who was as blond and delicate looking as her mother Luna, aside from her vibrant green eyes and Harry's facial features.

Even someone who hadn't read the story in the Daily Prophet would have known that these kids were all brothers and sisters just by looking at them. In fact, if someone covered up their hair and everything from their necks down, and then had to guess which was which, a person might be forgiven for mistaking them all for mini Harry Potters who didn't have his famous scar. Harry thought it was rather eerie to look at them when they were all drenched from a bath and looking almost identical.

Which just made Teddy stand out all the more. He was a little taller than all the others since he was approximately a year and a half older than them. His hair still loved to change colors all on its own, but he also seemed to have more control over it. For example, he was currently switching back and forth between looking like another mini Harry – only _he_ had the ability to form the iconic scar – and changing his hair color to match all the outrageously bold colors of the clothes he picked out.

By the time the clothing had all been bagged up, shrunk down, and stuffed into Parvati's purse, the three women were more than ready to drop the kids off at home and head to the Leaky to order a few stiff drinks! The fact that they still had plenty of Galleons left over from what Harry gave them for their shopping trip only seemed like an incentive. But no. They had unfortunately promised the kids ice cream for behaving, and the kids _were not_ about to let them forget.

And so they found themselves at Florean Fortescue's, completely distracted by ordering enough ice cream to satisfy 16 people – three of which were still rather wishing that theirs could contain alcohol somehow. So distracted were they, that they didn't realize that a couple of reporters had come into the shop to take pictures of the kids and ask them random harmless questions such as: “Are you having fun?” And: “Which ice cream is your favorite?”

When Susan noticed this she put her hands on her hips. “Shall I remind you that interviewing a minor without parental permission is against the law?”

One of the reporters smirked at her a bit smugly. “It's only an interview if we asked important questions such as: Where is your daddy right now?” He shrugged. “As it is, we're not asking anything that we couldn't have learned just by watching them eat.”

Which was true enough that Susan didn't argue. She simply helped hand out the ice cream and herded the kids outside to eat it in the shade of a tall old tree. Slowly, a crowd grew around them.

“Those are Harry Potter's kids!” People whispered excitedly.

The more people that surrounded them – that pointed and whispered – the more the kids got anxious. The ice cream made them energetic, but the people made them nervous. They soon grew cranky as well.

“Mummy!” Remus whined, tugging on Hannah's sleeve. “When can we go home?”

This would have been answered with a quick _right now_ if not for the fact that the kids were no longer cooperating and refused to walk to the nearest Floo. They started demanding to be Apparated, but it was impossible to side-along so many at the same time. This left the women wondering what they should do.

Suddenly, just as all but three of the kids were starting to cry, Neville appeared from the crowd. He had moved in with Hannah when they got married a few years back, so the kids knew him well enough that they called him Uncle Nev. Without a word, he took stock of the situation and mounted a rescue.

“Look!” Neville offered, holding out a handful of seeds.

“What's that?” Rose asked curiously, one of the few who hadn't yet started to cry.

“Here, I'll show you,” Neville said as he gently placed one seed in her small palm. Next, he pointed his wand at the seed and muttered a spell that made the seed grow into a full sized plant within a matter of seconds.

As impressive as this was, the plant itself stole the glory away from Neville like a mini diva. It had a large bulb at its base, a thick stalk, and then a good sized Amaryllis at the top that continually shifted from one gorgeously vivid color to the next. Much like Teddy's hair.

All of the other children clamored for a seed of their own. Neville passed them out and activated them, happy to have gained their interest and made them happy. They all stared at the new flowers in awe.

Interestingly, every child who could walk that was old enough to manage to escape from their parents came over to surround Neville. He was now the center of attention rather than the Potter kids because everyone wanted a plant of their own. Neville took this in stride, digging more seeds out of his pocket and handing them out.

This allowed Susan and Parvati to gently and surreptitiously herd the kids toward the nearest Floo. Hannah would have helped, but she was too busy staring at her husband. Her incredible and wonderful and just plain heroic husband!

When he was done and stood to look around, he noticed the way Hannah was looking at him. “What?” He asked with just a hint of a shy or embarrassed flush, one hand stroking the back of his neck.

“I just love you so damn much!” Hannah blurted out, pulling him close and kissing him.

Neville was completely lost in the kiss until good-natured clapping caught his attention. He pulled back with a deep blush. A large part of him was tempted to hide his face against her neck, but he realized that might be far more suggestive than a public kiss.

Hannah whispered in his ear: “You're going to make such a good father someday.”

“I am?” Neville asked nervously.

“Yes,” Hannah confirmed. “You're very good with kids.”

Neville cleared his throat. “Any idea when that might be?”

Hannah grinned at him and gave him a small kiss. “Maybe in the next few years? Once I have more help around the Leaky.”

He grinned at her. “I think I'd like that.”

 

***

 

Teddy woke with a huge grin. _Today is going to be the best day ever!_ It was his ninth birthday and there was going to be a party. He might be young, but he already had just enough perspective to realize that _every day_ felt like a party.

They always woke up and went flying around the backyard after breakfast. After Daisy was dropped off so that her parents could go to work, they had enough players to form two proper Quidditch teams, so they'd play a game until lunch.

Lunch was somewhat quiet as they were still resting from their game of Quidditch. After that, they'd pile into the bathtub for an epic water battle that also managed to get them clean. About a third of the time, some or all of the family bathed with them, but the rest of the time, it was just them. Harry had once said that it was weird to have the majority of the people living in the house leave for work each day after a few years of them home most of the time while working towards specific careers.

Harry, Draco, and Andromeda were always home. Gran's sister, Narcissa, came over frequently as well, and the four adults would force the kids to sit quietly for a few hours each day and learn things. Things like history. Things that were _so utterly boring_ compared to the spells that they _could_ be learning, but no. Apparently they were too young to learn anything more complicated than a Lumos, colored sparks, and an Aguamenti.

Which was _stupid_! Really! Even if their toy wands couldn't do any real spells, they all had access to their parents' wands. Practically the _very moment_ they'd learned how to read, Rose, Sai, and Scorpius tended to read spell books from the library, and then one or two of them would “borrow” a wand for an hour or so while they hid in the back of the library and took turns practicing the spells they learned.

As it turned out, it was very lucky that they were all so very good with Aguamenti spells! It seemed that any time they couldn't perform a spell right, something started on fire or blew up! Rose had even figured out how to repair and or clean everything up good as new, which meant that their parents never figured out what they were doing.

Then the entire family had dinner, which was always noisy and full of laughter. Teddy simply _loved_ listening to everyone argue and bicker and laugh and make jokes. Honestly, this was when they learned the most! The adults would talk about their day, things they learned, and what they thought about things.

And then there were a _lot_ of jokes and references to a war and a Dark Lord named Voldemort, who was also named Tom. Or possibly that was meant to be some sort of Riddle?

Teddy sat up in bed and slowly got dressed in the outfit he had _begged_ Gran for months to make him. As he dressed, he thought about what he had been told by both Gran and Harry. About how his mum and dad had fought and died in the war. About how Harry had defeated Voldemort.

Gran had told him more than once that his parents were very brave, and that they both believed in Harry, which was why they made him Teddy's Godfather. Harry had told Teddy that his father – named Remus Lupin, but who often liked to be called Moony – once told Harry that he was sad that Teddy would grow up an orphan, but that he trusted Harry to make sure that Teddy knew that Remus was glad that Teddy would grow up in a world that Remus had fought so hard to make a better place.

When Teddy really thought about it, it made him sad. So he shook the sadness from his head and grinned again. The only real difference between the party like feel of most days and _today_ was that there would be cake and presents!

Teddy stood in front of his mirror – in the room that was only his; a part of Gran's apartment on the first floor – and concentrated on changing his features until they looked exactly the way he wanted them to. Then he focused a bit more until he was certain that they were going to stay that way rather than change all on their own. It was a strange feeling – a bit like locking his magic in a cage – but it worked. He would stay like that until he wanted to look different, or until his magic broke out of jail.

Rose poked her head into Teddy's room. “Why didn't you stay in our room last night?”

She was referring to the room that the thirteen of them (and occasionally the younger three) tended to share. It had once been a ballroom, but since it never got used for anything, it had been converted into a large playroom. When the adults realized that the kids would play until they dropped off to sleep, they simply conjured up beds for all of them, and now the room was part playroom and part communal bedroom.

Teddy smiled at her. “I couldn't sleep, so I came back here to read for a bit. Harry slipped me the newest issue of my favorite muggle comic book yesterday, and I was just _dying_ to read it!”

“Oh,” Rose murmured in understanding. Her mother often said that reading was more important than anything – even sleeping! And so staying up to read was something that no one argued with.

“What do you think of the costume I'm going to wear today?” Teddy asked, turning in a circle for her to get a good look.

“You look like a Hogwarts student!” Rose stated with a puzzled frown.

“Exactly!” Teddy exclaimed with a grin. “Come on; Ginny promised something special after breakfast.”

“Oh! That's what I came in here to tell you!” Rose blurted out, thunking herself on the head. “Breakfast is ready and Ginny is home.”

They left the apartment and promptly ran into Draco, Scorpius, and Albus in the hallway outside the dining room. Draco stopped short at the sight of them. “That is just plain creepy!”

“What is?” Rose asked curiously.

Draco gestured to Teddy.

“I know!” Rose agreed. “He's got two years yet until he leaves us to go to Hogwarts! No reason to rush...”

“Er...” Draco raised a brow at her.

Scorpius giggled. “Papa's actually talking about how much Teddy looks like Dad!”

“Teddy _always_ likes to look like Dad!” Rose pointed out. “What's so weird about that?”

Draco flushed. “Yes well, today it's a bit like looking at a picture of Harry from our first year. It's just... creepy...”

Teddy gave him that overly innocent smile that tended to charm adults into giving in. “It's only for today. Gran explained that I should spend more time looking like myself before I go to Hogwarts. But I couldn't help it! I got to thinking about how my parents died in order to give Harry a chance to win the war, and when I look like this, it makes me remember them! Or... well, sort of. I don't really remember them, if I'm honest.”

Draco sighed in reluctant defeat. “Well, if it's only for today.”

Teddy grinned at him, which made Draco shudder lightly as he walked toward and entered the dining room. “Creepy...”

“What's creepy?” Harry asked absently as he was dishing up breakfast to everyone. When he looked up, Draco jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at Teddy. Harry took a good look and felt his jaw drop. “Yeah... Creepy...”

Rose giggled. “Not really!”

Sai was the one Harry was currently serving, so he chuckled. “The next time we go to a Harry Potter festival, Teddy is _so_ going to win the lookalike contest!”

Harry looked horrified. “When have you _ever_ been to a Harry Potter festival?!”

The kids all promptly looked to the ground, grumbling about Sai's big mouth. Sai blushed and looked away. Meanwhile, all of the women tried to talk a bit louder and change the subject.

Harry looked around suspiciously. “ _Hermione_?”

Hermione wilted a bit under his glare and the way he growled her name. She sighed in defeat. “Alright, fine! So... for the last two years – when you and Draco go on vacation for the first week of May, you know, to avoid all the anniversary of Harry Potter winning the war nonsense – we've sort of decided that the festivals are actually a rather good way for the kids to learn about the war. In a kid friendly manner.”

“And they're a hoot!” Pansy added with a devilish grin.

“Hermione!” Harry gasped incredulously.

“ _What_?!” She cried out with a tone of exasperation.

“You all _know_ that I wanted the kids to grow up away from all that!” Harry yelled in frustration.

Padma came to Hermione's rescue. She put her hands on Harry's arms. “Harry... you have a photoshoot for the Daily Prophet every year for their birthday week. _You_ are on the cover of newspapers and magazines at least once a month. Your kids know how to read. Did you _honestly_ think that they didn't already know that you're famous? Hell! Whenever we go out into public with them, reporters show up and people stare and point!”

“Yeah but,” Harry grumbled in protest.

“But what?” The adults all asked.

“But the festivals are so embarrassing! They have a 50 foot statue of me! My face is on every shirt, cup, and toy! There's really no need for our kids to see that!” Harry wailed.

By this point, Hannah had taken over serving breakfast to everyone. “Oh Harry,” she murmured in sympathy. “It really not that bad. It's rather fun.”

“The kids all have a blast,” Parvati backed her up.

Teddy hugged Harry tightly. “I love you, Harry. Please don't be mad.”

Harry let out a disgruntled sigh, and then hugged Teddy back. “I'm not mad. I'm embarrassed. I don't like people being so interested in me.”

Luna flowed over to Harry and kissed his cheek. She and Rolf had returned from one of their many trips just so that they'd be here for the party. “Cheer up. The next festival is going to be the 10 year anniversary, so they're making plans to build a 50 foot statue of Voldemort instead.”

“ _Why_ would they do that?” Harry choked out incredulously.

“To burn it!” The women, Ron, Neville, and Rolf all blurted out with a cheer.

“Er... Well... That does actually sound a bit fun,” Harry admitted.

Draco pulled him into a comforting hug. “Does that mean you want to go to the festival this year?”

“I'll have to think about that,” Harry muttered. “Going on vacation with you is the highlight of my year!”

“We could do both,” Draco suggested with a grin.

“Maybe...” Harry murmured, kissing Draco until the kids all groaned in disgust.

Ginny laughed. “Hurry up and eat already! I've got a busy day planned before the party tonight!”

“Yeah?” Teddy asked with interest.

“Just you wait,” Ginny advised with a smirk.

 

***

 

Teddy bounced in excitement. As he had thought that morning, this was _the best day ever_! He threw his arms around Ginny and squeezed her so tight that she actually made a sound like she couldn't breathe and her face turned an alarming shade of red.

Not noticing this, Teddy kissed her cheek. “Thank you so much Ginny! You are _the best_ Aunt ever!”

Ginny preened smugly. “Of course I am.”

“Come on then!” The Captain of the Holyhead Harpies shouted from her broom. “Are we playing or not?”

Immediately, 14 kids hopped onto their brooms and leapt into the air. Technically, none of them were old enough to fly on real brooms, but since they had long since mastered their toy brooms and taken to playing Quidditch each morning, an exception to the unofficial rule was made for them.

Thus Teddy, the 12 “twins,” and Daisy found themselves playing an informal game of Quidditch against a _real team!_ The three younger kids – who were only five – cheered them on from the prestigious VIP box. Harry and all the other adults who were interested in watching the game sat in the box too.

Pansy and Padma were highly alert – ready to administer first aid if necessary – somewhat offending the official first responders employed by the team. Hermione and Draco were also on high alert, prepared to cast powerful spells to catch any of the kids if they fell off their brooms. Meanwhile, Harry shouted himself hoarse cheering them all on.

After about three hours – the kids all taking turns to visit the VIP box for drinks and a brief rest as needed – James caught the Golden Snitch. He had been literally neck and neck with Scorpius (the two designated seekers for their double-sized team), but had a tiny burst of speed at the last second. This impressed the seeker for the Harpies, who had been farther away from the Snitch when it was spotted and was close on their heels when it was caught.

In the VIP box, Draco shook his head with a wry expression and muttered: “Figures...”

Parvati slung an arm around each of his and Harry's shoulders. “That's so weird. It's like watching tiny versions of you two when you were back in Hogwarts!”

“Not exactly,” Harry pointed out with a shrug. “Scorpius usually wins at home, so hopefully he won't be tempted to punch James and call him a bunch of nasty names.”

Draco snorted. Before he could say anything, Ginny and the Captain of her team landed in the box. Ginny threw her arms around Harry. “Did you see? Were you watching?”

“Of course!” Harry exclaimed with a grin.

“Those are some scary kids you have there, Mr. Potter,” Ginny's Captain remarked with a tone of deep amusement. “Not even in Hogwarts and already I'd swear that some of them could be legitimately scouted to play professionally!”

“Most of them!” Ginny agreed with a delighted snort.

“You could turn them into a professional team and play the junior league, if you wanted.”

“That could actually be fun,” Harry mused, stroking his chin in thought.

Teddy had been flying around in wild celebration with the rest of the kids, but now he flew into the box and flung himself into Harry's arms. “Were you watching? Did you see me whack that bludger into the Harpy Chaser?!”

Harry chuckled. “Yes Teddy, you were brilliant!”

Ginny sniggered as her Captain pulled her aside and whispered in her ear: “That kid... Is he Harry Potter's too? He looks exactly like him...”

At this point, Daisy had pulled Teddy out of Harry's arms and was bouncing as she hugged him. “I scored a million goals!”

Ginny tapped Teddy's shoulder. “Teddy love, could I see your real face for a moment? And... that lovely shade of blue hair.”

Teddy grinned. “Sure thing, Aunt Ginny! _Anything_ for my favorite person in the whole world!”

Daisy glared at him for that remark even as Teddy changed his features. His face scrunched up in concentration. It was probably a good thing that his grandmother had a habit of taking his picture when he was sleeping, because he was able to focus on the photos to know what he actually looked like. After he was done, he grinned up at Ginny.

“Gorgeous!” Ginny assured him, giving him a tight hug. Then he smirked at her and changed his nose to a small pig snout. Ginny laughed. “Still gorgeous!”

“A metamorphmagus!” The Harpy Captain exclaimed in surprise. “Very cool...”

“Right?” Ginny asked with a grin.

Daisy decided that pretty women needed to stop fawning over _her Teddy,_ so she started to shout loudly. “Hey! Isn't it time for us to go have cake and ice cream?”

“ _No_!” Harry roared in alarm. “Lunch first! I _really_ don't need you all high off of sugar with no food!”

“Cake cake cake!” The kids all chanted – even the three younger ones.

Harry scowled at them.

“Daddy,” they all pouted, sticking out their bottom lips just so. “ _Please?_ Please daddy?!”

Harry put his hands over his eyes and turned his back on them. “It's not going to work.”

They surrounded him and tugged on any part of his clothes they could reach. “ _Please_...”

“Oh, they're good...” the entire team whispered to each other appreciatively.

Holding back laughs, Hermione, Draco, and Pansy decided to rescue Harry.

“Time to get ready to go home!” Hermione insisted.

At the same time, Draco called out: “Anyone not perfectly behaved and ready to go in 10 seconds will _not_ be getting any cake!”

And Pansy simultaneously outdid both of them. “Oi, Brats! Shut it and fall in line or I'll petrify the lot of you and stick you in the corner until tomorrow morning so that I can enjoy a quiet day off!”

“Yes Pansy!” All of the children who weren't hers exclaimed even as hers grumbled: “Yes mum...”

Lily tugged on Ginny's sleeve. “Mum? Can we do this again sometime?”

“We'll see, my love,” Ginny promised vaguely as she hugged her daughter. Much later on, this actually led to the entire team deciding to bring their kids with them one weekend a month and have a mother/daughter game during practice. This gave Lily an advantage over the rest of her siblings, but none of them minded.

In the meantime, they all went home to eat lunch, and then promptly had cake and ice cream. Teddy grinned as he looked around at his family. His face was still his own – even his nose – except that he had let his magic out of jail and now his hair changed color whenever it wanted. He sighed happily.

_Best day ever..._

 

**Author's Note:**

> When I thought that this might be a good series, I always intended it to be something that went until the kids started Hogwarts, and so the next part, which I plan to be the one in which they board that famous train, will probably be the last part. Unless, of course, the kids keep talking to me, whispering tales of their mischief in my ear, lol!


End file.
